Pumpkin Craft

On Wednesday, we went to Shelly & Brayden's house for lunch, playtime and to make a Halloween craft. Bella wasn't too interested in making the trick-or-treat bag, she preferred to ride the horse (a-ha).



I'm not super crafty, but luckily Shelly made the project almost fool-proof! I used paint, stencils, glitter, stickers & glue. I think Bella's Halloween bag came out cute. She keeps calling it her punkin purse (pumpkin purse).

Bella's 2nd Birthday Party

We celebrated Bella's 2nd birthday on Saturday (10/10) in Sesame Street style! I made her cake and decorated with letters and numbers...it didn't hurt that the letter "B" coincided with the number "2". The cake toppers were bought, so don't think my fondant skills are any better than basic beginner level. :)

Bella getting ready to blow out the candle.

She had a ginormous bouncer (18' tall) with all the Sesame Street characters on it. It had a jumping area, obstacle course, and a huge slide to come down. It was a big hit and kept all of the little toddler friends super busy.

The "big kids" wanting to get in too! I think the adults had just as much fun as the toddlers.

Michele helping Bella slide down.

Cousin Joshua also celebrated with us and Bella made sure he had his pacifier.

Thanks to everyone who came to the party and celebrated Bella's birthday with us!

Guess who's TWO???

My sweet Bella, that's who! It's hard to believe my baby girl is now two...where has the time gone? Here's a picture of her 1st birthday cupcake....

..and here's her 2nd birthday cupcake. Yep, still all over her face. :)

We celebrated her actual birthday with lunch at Gatti's Pizza. A few friends joined us and we enjoyed pizza, pasta and LOTS of cupcakes. After lunch, we headed to the game area. Bella's favorite ride was driving the ice cream truck.

Zachary hitching a ride in the ice cream truck

Then, Aiden joined the ride too!

Carson (Car-Car) riding the pirate ship

Getting ready for Halloween!

I wanted to make sure the leotard for Bella's Halloween costume fit. Well, it fits and she doesn't want to take it off. I put on her fairy wings and she was running like a wild child all around the house.

She kept bonking Milo on the head with her wand and saying "POOF!". I'm not sure what kind of spell she was casting on the poor dog.

I finally figured out a way to get her to sit...turn on Elmo!

Navy Pier- Chicago

After seeing Kristin & Matt off to the airport, we headed to the Navy Pier. It was SUPER hot this day, so we really didn't stay too long.

Bella enjoyed riding Thomas the Train all by herself....we were quite shocked that she didn't cry. Yay for the big girl!

We strolled around and checked out the cool shops. It was too hot to do too much outside.

Cubs baseball game at Wrigley Field (9/11/09)

The baseball game was Brian's official "present" of the whole birthday vacation trip. He's a huge Cubs fan and has never been to a game at Wrigley Field. Well, update- he has now! We started off the pre-game warmups with a little brew...

Then, Bella needed her own drink to keep her cool. Brian bought her a BRIGHT, red icee...wanna guess the outcome of that one???

Bella & Kristin trying to keep cool

Brian & Kep- yeah, I have NO explanation for this one.

Me & Bella enjoying the shade

Bella perfecting her celebration dance....Go Cubs GO!

Of course Brian had to re-create the Bartman pose...in the exact spot too! (Poor Bella)

After the game, we enjoyed a delicious pizza dinner at Gino's (the best in Chicago!).

Kristin & Matt

tickling Bella

Fun in Chi-town

We recently enjoyed a vacation to Chicago in celebration of Brian's 33rd birthday. We flew in to Chicago-O'Hare Airport on Thursday afternoon and headed to the Hotel Indigo to unpack. Here's Bella on her first subway ride...

We met up with Aunt Krissy and Kep at the Chicago Art Institute. Before having to round up the rambuncious toddler, we did get to see Georges Seurat's famous oil painting "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte" painted 1884-1886.

Not surprisingly, Bella was the least bit interested in any art and wanted to run around. We went outside to the gardens and let her burn off some energy.

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Bella & Daddy in the gardens

Then, we headed over to Millennium Park to check out "The Bean".

Bella absolutely LOVED checking out her reflection and kept trying to run from it. Very funny.

And of course, we couldn't pass up taking a family picture in the reflection. :)